Spotlight



July 19,1960 R, 200K 2,945,947

V SPOTLIGHT Filed March 13, 1957 IN V EN TOR.

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ATTORNEY.

nted States Patent O SPOTLIGHT Robert L. Zook, Anderson, Ind., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 13, 1957, Ser. No. 645,833 4 Claims. (Cl. 24W-61.13)

The present invention relates to dirigibly mounted lamp structures and, in particular, to an adjustable spotlight structure which includes a supporting housing, drive means mounted within said housing, and a current conducting feed wire positioned Within said housing and extending through the latter for operative engagement with the spotlight in such a manner yas to prevent the feed wire from being subjected to repeated twisting and bending as the spotlight is dirigibly adjusted.

In spotlight structures of the type aforedescribed, it is common to mount the spotlight body on a bracket or other housing iixedly secured to the exterior surface of -a vehicle panel. A driven element is rigidly secured to the spotlight body and is mounted on the housing for operative driving engagement ywith a driving member which may be remotely manually actuated bya vehicle operator within the vehicle passenger compartment.

In such arrangements, it is preferred to mount the current conducting feed wire in such a manner as to be completely enclosed within the operating structure, which inlcludes the lamp supporting housing, and the lamp body so that it will not be visible externally. In order to acc-omplish such a mounting arrangement, the current conducting feed wire must necessarily pass through the aforementioned driven element which is selectively rotated to position the spotlight body. As a result, as the spotlight is dirigibly or rotatably adjusted, the current conducting feed wire is subjected to repeated bending and twisting which damages the insulation thereof and often results in short-circuiting.

In View of the fact that it is desirable to ydirectly connect a current conducting feed Wire to the illuminating element mounted within the spotlight body so as to insure good electrical contact and to produce a structure with a minimum of cost, it is a principal feature of this invention to provide a lamp structure of the type aforementioned in which the current conducting feed wire may extend out of view between the lamp supporting housing and the interior of the lamp body and be so related to the driving structure of the latter as to preclude subjecting such a wire to repeated bending and twisting.

It is further contemplated to provide a lamp structure which includes a lamp body supported by a hollow housing secured to the exterior surface of a vehicle panel, and drive means for adjusting the spotlight including a driven element seated on the housing and rigidly secured to the lamp body and operatively engaging a driving element or member disposed within the housing and manually operluminating element as to allow the former to remain subl stantially stationary as the driven member and lamp body are adjusted.

More specifically, the spotlight strucmre of this invention includes a hollow body-supporting housing which iiientea July 1e, 1960 has a substantially cylindrical bore projecting therefrom, a driven member forming Aa closure Ifor this boreandthe entire housing and being operatively secured to the spotlight body, a driving mem-ber operatively drivingly engaging the driven member and manually actuatable remotely by a vehicle operator, and a current conducting feed wire mounted within the hollow housing and extending through an arcuate passageway formed within the driven member and into the interior of the spotlight body for connection to the illuminating element, whereby the feed wire will remain substantially stationary as .the driven element is rotated by reason of the fact that it is positioned in the aforementioned arcuate passage in the rotatable driven member.

These and other features of this invention will appear more fully hereinafter as the description of the-invention proceeds and in which reference is made to the following drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, partly in cross section and partly broken away, of the spotlight and mounting thereof of this invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view, partly broken away, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Referring now to the drawings, there is disclosed a lamp body 2 having positioned in one end thereof an illuminating structure 4, and in the other end a rear view mirror 6 suitably secured to a panel of the lamp body 2.

As will appear more fully hereinafter, the lamp body 2 is mounted on a supporting structure 8 which includes the bracket or housing 10 and a trim or door piece 12 which is rigidly secured by suitable means, such yas fasteners 14, to the exterior of a panel 16 of the vehicle.

As appears clearly in Fig. 1, the housing 10 has a bore- 18 extending therethrough and is interrupted intermediate its axial length by an annular shoulder 20. A tubular operating rod 22 has one end pressaitted and otherwise rigidly secured within the bore 18 so as to prevent relative axial and rotative movement between the housing 10 and the tubular rod 22. It will be appreciated that the opposite end of the rod 22 (not shown) is secured in any well known manner to an operating handle conveniently positioned within the vehicle passenger compartment for manual operation by the vehicle operator to rotate the tube and housing 10 about the longitudinal axis of said tube.

It will be noted from Fig. l that the mating ends of the housing 10 and trim or door piece 12 are suitably shouldered at 26 so that the housing 10 may be rotated relative to the trim piece as the tubular rod 22 is manually operated. The interior surface of the trim piece 12 is bored to form an annular opening surrounding the operating rod 22 for receipt of an annular bushing 28 which frictionally receives the exterior surface of the tubular operating rod. The Washer 30` surrounds the operating rod and abuts the exposed end of the bushing 28. A spring 32 has one end engaged with the washer 30` and its other end grounded to the operating rod 22 by means of insertion into an aperture 34 formed in the operating rod. It therefore will be seen that the spring 32 continuously resiliently urges the operating rod 22, and with it the housing 10, to the right in Fig. l relative to the trim or door piece 12 so that the shouldered structure 26 of the housing 10 and trim piece 12 is maintained in firm relatively rotatable engagement even if the friction bushing 28 should come loose, it being understood that the latter may be circumferentially adjusted by a set screw to adjust its frictional engagement with the tube 22..

The housing 10 includes an open-ended substantially cylindrical bore 36 projecting therefrom at substantially a right angle. Rotat-ably disposed on the circular terminal shoulder 38 of this bore and forming a closure for the housing is a member 40 which is rigidly secured in any well known manner to the interior surface of the lower wall of the lamp body 2. A pinion 42 is splined or otherwise operatively connected to the member 40 and extends through the bore 36 substantially at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the housing bore 18. A rack 44 is fixed to one end of a drive rod 46 which, it will be appreciated, is suitably connected to the aforemention operating handle (not shown) for manual reciprocation of the rack. It is, of course, understood that the rack 44 operatively drivingly engages the pinion 42 for rotation of the latter, the member 40 and the lamp body 2 rigidly secured to the latter. A set screw 48 is employed in the interior of the lamp body 2 to retain a terminal in connection with one end of the pinion 42, an axially coiled spring 50 being mounted in abutting relationship with said terminal and a cap plate 52 positioned over the driven member 40 within the interior of the lamp body 2.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 2, it will be noted that a circular or arcuate passageway 54 is formed in the body of the member 40 and establishes communication with the interior of the housing bore `1S and the interior of the lamp body 2, there being an aperture 56 formed in the cap plate 52 in overlying relationship with the width of the aforementioned passageway. A tang 58 projects from a portion of -the wall of the cylindrical bore 36 through the passageway 54 and aperture 56 in the cap plate 52 into the interior of the lamp body 2. It will be noted from Fig. 2 that the surface of the tang, and as a matter of fact the wall of the cylindrical bore 36 underlying it, which is presented toward the passageway 54 is arcuate or concave in cross section.

An insulated current conducting feed wire 60 extends through the hollow tubular operating rod 22, the housing bore 18, arcuate passageway 54 in the member 40, aperture 56 in the plate 52 and is operatively connected in the usual manner with the illuminating structure 4. The concave or arcuate face of the tang 58 and internal wall of the cylindrical bore 36 aforedescribed provides some measure of lateral support for the feed wire 60 as it passes through the arcuate passage 54.

It can now be readily appreciated that when the operating handle is manually actuated to operate the spotlight body drive means which includes the rack structure 44, the pinion 42 and member 40 secured to the lamp body 2, the lamp body will be rotatably adjusted as the driven member is rotated on the shoulder 3S formed at the terminal end of the cylindrical bore 36 in the housing 10. As the member 40 so rotates, the cap plate 52 will remain substantially stationary by reason of the fact that the tang 58 projects through the aperture 56 formed in the plate, the upper surface of the member 40 being capable of relative sliding movement with respect to said plate.

It will also be apparent that as the driven member 40 is rotated, the feed Wire 60 will at all times be riding in the circular or arcuate passageway 54 formed in the former so that said Wire will not be subjected to repeated sharp bending and twisting as in previous arrangements of this type. What little bending does occur will take place in that portion of the feed wire within the lamp body between the aforedescribed drive mechanism and the connection of the wire to the illuminating element structure 4 which may be easily accommodated by placing some slack in this portion of the wire. Because of the fact that the lamp supporting structure must naturally be made of relatively small dimensions and because of the relatively short length of feed wire mounted between the stationary housing 10 and the driven member 40, it is impractical to employ a slack feed wire in this portion of the structure to accommodate the relative movement between the driven element connected to the lamp body 2 and the stationary housing. However, by utilizing the structure and arrangement aforedescribed, the driven member 40 may be rotated almost 360 without subjecting the feed wire passing therethrough to such bending and twisting and the deleterious effects resulting therefrom.

It is, of course, understood that the embodiment of this invention which has been disclosed is a preferred one, and that other forms of this invention may be designed to gain the advantages thereof and that, therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the specic embodiment shown but only by the scope of the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. A dirigible lamp structure including a lamp body, a support for said body including an enclosed housing, drive means for manually positioning said body, said drive means including a driving member mounted within said housing, a rotatable driven member formed by a portion of said housing and operatively connected to said driving member and body, an elongate curved passageway through said driven member spaced from the axis of rotation of the latter and in open cornmunication with the interiors of said housing and lamp body, a tang fixed on said housing said extending through and beyond said passageway into the interior of said lamp body, a current feed wire mounted within said housing and extending through said passageway adjacent said tang and operatively connected to said lamp, and a cap plate positioned over said driven member covering the end of said passageway exteriorly of said housing and having a relatively small aperture therein overlying a portion of said passageway through which tang and said wire extend, said tang being received through said aperture with slight clearance to retain said cap plate substantially stationary as said driven member is rotated.

2. A dirigible lamp structure including a lamp body, a support for said lamp body including a hollow housing having an open-ended substantially cylindrical bore projecting therefrom, manually operable drive means for positioning said lamp structure, said means including a driving member mounted within said housing adjacent said bore, a rotatable driven member drivingly connected to said lamp body and seated on said open-ended bore and forming a closure for said housing, a portion of said driven member extending through said bore in operative driving engagement with said driving member, an arcuate passage formed entirely through said driven member spaced from the axis of rotation thereof, a cap disposed on said driven member covering said passage exteriorly of said housing and having a relatively small aperture therein overlying a portion of said arcuate passage, a locking tang fixed relative to said housing and extending through said arcuate passage and cap aperture with a slight clearance thereby substantially said tang and said wire extend, said tang being received locking said cap relative to said housing as said driven member is rotated, and a current feed wire extending from said housing through said passage and cap aperture and operatively connected to said lamp.

3. A dirigible lamp structure including a lamp body, a support for said lamp body including a hollow housing having an open-ended substantially cylindrical bore projecting therefrom, manually operable drive means for positioning said lamp structure, said means including a ydriving member mounted within said housing adjacent said bore, a rotatable driven member drivingly connected to said lamp body and seated on said open-ended bore and forming a closure for said housing, a portion of said driven member extending through said bore in operative driving engagement with said driving member, an arcuate passage formed entirely through said driven member spaced from the axis of rotation thereof, a cap disposed on said driven member covering the end of said passage exteriorly of said housing and having a relatively small aperture therein overlying a portion of said arcuate passage, a locking and support tang fixed relative to said housing and extending through said arcuate passage and cap aperture with a slight clearance thereby substantially locking sai-d cap relative -to said housing as said driven member is rotated, and a current feed wire extending from said housing through said passage and cap aperture adjacent said tang and operatively connected to said lamp, said tang providing lateral support for said Wire.

4. A dirigible lamp structure including a lamp body, a support for said lamp body including a hollow housing having an open-ended substantially cylindrical bore projecting therefrom, manually operable drive means for positioning said lamp structure, said means including a driving member mounted within said housing adjacent said bore, a rotatable driven member drivingly connected to said lamp body and seated on said open-ended bore and forming a closure for said housing, a portion of said driven member extending through said bore in operative driving engagement with said driving member, an arcuate passage formed entirely through said driven member spaced from the axis of rotation thereof, a cap disposed on said driven member covering the end of said passage tending from said housing through said passage and cap aperture adjacent said tang surface and operatively connected to said lamp, said concave tang surface providing a lateral support for said wire.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,687,651 Anderson Oct. 16, 1928 1,772,918 Sklarek Alug. 12, 1930 1,811,502 Hummert June 23, 1931 1,921,785 Sklarek Aug. 8, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 609,932 Great Britain Oct. 8, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE 0F 4CORRECTION Patent No, 2,945,947 July 19Y 1969 Robert L. Zook It is hereby certified that error appears in the-printed specification of the above @numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 4f line 3l., before "tang" insert said u; line ire extelfld.,l said tang 51.1., strike out "sad' tang and said w being rece1ved" Signed and sealed this 4th day of April l9l (SEAL) Attest;

XQXTXTX AARTHUR W. cRocKE-R Attesting Ocer Acting Commlssloner of Patents 

